Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.80.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AQST shares. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aquestive Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Aquestive Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th.

Aquestive Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Aquestive Therapeutics stock opened at $3.93 on Friday. Aquestive Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $2.93 and a 52 week high of $7.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $493.02 million, a PE ratio of -6.44 and a beta of 1.46.

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $14.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 million. Research analysts forecast that Aquestive Therapeutics will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aquestive Therapeutics

In other news, CFO A Ernest Toth, Jr. sold 58,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total transaction of $242,919.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 376,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,568,387.04. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter E. Boyd sold 29,814 shares of Aquestive Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.17, for a total value of $124,324.38. Following the sale, the insider owned 338,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,582.53. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 403,947 shares of company stock worth $1,685,450. Company insiders own 6.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aquestive Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 6.0% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the period. Informed Momentum Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC now owns 155,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 2,721 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aquestive Therapeutics by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 58,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Aquestive Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 369,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,388,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. 32.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Aquestive Therapeutics

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel drug delivery systems. Leveraging its proprietary PharmFilm® technology, Aquestive designs thin-film formulations that facilitate sublingual, buccal and oral delivery of small molecules, offering rapid onset of action and improved patient compliance compared with traditional dosage forms.

The company’s lead product, Libervant® (diazepam) Buccal Film, is approved by the U.S.